Sector coupling potential of wind-based hydrogen production and fuel cell train operation in regional rail transport in berlin and brandenburg

Abstract

As the transport sector is ought to be decarbonized, fuel-cell-powered trains are a viablezero-tailpipe technology alternative to the widely employed diesel multiple units inregional railway service on non-electrified tracks. Carbon-free hydrogen can be provided bywater-electrolysis from renewable energies. In this study we introduce an approach toassess the potential of wind-based hydrogen for use in adjacent regional rail transport byapplying a GIS approach in conjunction with a site-level cost model. In Brandenburg about10.1 million train-km annually could be switched to fuel cell electric train operation. Thisrelates to a diesel consumption of appr. 9.5 million liters today. If fuel cell trains would beemployed, that translated to 2198 annual tons hydrogen annually. At favorable siteshydrogen costs of approx. 6.40V/kg - including costs of hydrogen refueling stations - couldbe achieved. Making excess hydrogen available for other consumers, would furtherdecrease hydrogen production costs.©2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Hydrogen Energy PublicationsLLC. This is an open access article under the CC BY license.